Donald Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina once called the hush money case the former president is currently embroiled in “fair game” for prosecutors during an interview five years ago. Tacopina, who is representing Trump in the 34-count indictment brought forth by Manhattan prosecutors, has called the case a “joke.”
However, he believed it to be a more serious matter during an appearance on Fake News CNN in 2018.
During the segment, Tacopina said: “If there’s an issue with that payment to Stormy Daniels, being that it was made on behalf of the candidate, and it was not declared, that’s fair game.
“Unfortunately, if that’s the case, it’s an illegal agreement. It’s a fraud,” he adds.
“If that’s, in fact, the case, it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t pass the straight-face test. And quite frankly, if that is what happened, we have a potential campaign finance issue.”
Tacopina has explained that the 2018 comments were based on a hypothetical question and that he didn’t know all the facts of the case back then.
“If there’s an issue with that payment to Stormy Daniels being that it was made on behalf of a candidate and it was not declared, that’s an issue and that’s fair game…” – Donald Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, in 2018 clip now making the rounds ahead of potential indictment. https://t.co/aZfv4okNYG
— Jason Fechner (@jasonfechner) March 21, 2023
Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina called hush money case ‘fair game’ five years ago https://t.co/MbVpu0dQ9r pic.twitter.com/Ww6y7F7eDF
— New York Post (@nypost) April 6, 2023